Wendell Berry and Religion: Heaven's Earthly Life (Culture of the Land)

Farmer, poet, essayist, and environmental writer Wendell Berry is acclaimed for his ideas regarding the values inherent in an agricultural society. Place, community, good work, and simple pleasures are but a few of the values that form the bedrock of Berry's thought. While the notion of reverence is central to Berry, he is not widely known as a religious writer. However, the moral underpinnings of his work are rooted in Christian tradition, articulating the tenet that faith and stewardship of the land are not mutually exclusive. In Wendell Berry and Religion, editors Joel J. Shuman and L. Roger Owens probe the moral and spiritual implications of Berry's work. Chief among them are the notions that the earth is God's provisional gift to mankind and that studying how we engage material creation reflects important truths. This collection reveals deep, thoughtful, and provocative conversations within Berry's writings, illuminating the theological inspirations inherent in his work. Introduction: Placing God in the work of Wendell Berry / Joel James Shuman Part I: Good work What would a Christian university look like? : some tentative answers inspired by Wendell Berry / Stanley Hauerwas Mr. Berry goes to medical school : notes toward unspecializing a healing art / Brian Volck Of the good that has been possible in this world : lawyering in Port William / Richard P. Church Proper work : Wendell Berry and the practice of ministry / Kyle Childress Part II: Holy living The pill is like ... DDT : an agrarian perspective on pharmaceutical birth control / Elizabeth Bahnson The salvation of the city : defiant gardens in the great northern feedlot / Fred Bahnson And the land I will remember : reading the Bible through agrarian eyes / Ellen F. Davis Landscapes of flesh : on finding more faithful metaphors for the body and its goods / Joel James Shuman The dark night of the soil : an agrarian approach to mystical life / Norman Wirzba Part III: Imagination The membership includes the dead : Wendell Berry's membership as communio sanctorum / D. Brent Laytham Embedded hopefulness : Wendell Berry and Saint Thomas Aquinas on Christian hope / Philip A. Muntzel Alien landscapes : Christianity and inevitable violence / Scott Williams Let the place judge : healing the division between theology and practice / L. Roger Owens Part IV: Moving forward Democracy, America, and the church : inviting Wendell Berry into the discussion / Charles R. Pinches. Title Page......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Introduction......Page 8 Part 1 Good Work......Page 20 What Would a Christian University Look Like?......Page 22 Mr. Berry Goes to Medical School......Page 40 Of the Good That Has Been Possible in This World......Page 57 Proper Work......Page 78 Part 2 Holy Living......Page 90 The Pill Is Like . . . DDT?......Page 92 The Salvation of the City......Page 105 “And the Land I Will Remember”......Page 122 Landscapes of Flesh......Page 138 The Dark Night of the Soil......Page 155 Part 3 Imagination......Page 178 “The Membership Includes the Dead”......Page 180 Embedded Hopefulness......Page 197 Alien Landscapes......Page 216 Let the Place Judge......Page 228 Part 4 Moving Forward......Page 244 Democracy, America, and theChurch......Page 246 Contributors......Page 268 Index......Page 270